Will the solar panels needed fit your Utah home with a light-absorbing southward-facing pitch?+1

Front contact (Fc)

Are the line resistances on the front contact (a sheet of metal enhancing solar panel circuitry of P and N-type semiconductors) reduced?+1

European Manufacturing Location (Em)

Are your Utah solar panels German-engineered?+1

Asian Manufacturing (Am)

Is your Utah solar company relying on Asian-imported solar cells?-1

Non Solar-panel Factors

As a system of interwoven complexity, residential solar modules in the state of Utah hinge on many elements that occur or co-occur away from the solar panels themselves. Keep reading to see which of these elements matters most in ensuring a successful residential solar install.

Balance of System (Sb)

Is everything other than the solar panels ‘balanced’ and installed correctly?+2

Mounting system & railing (Ms)

Is the railing and mounting simple, solid, and secure?+1

Solar charge controller (Sc)

Is charging of deep cycle batteries optimized to keep electrical currents from percolating through the panels without sunlight?+1

Microinverters (Mi)

Is the microinverter mounted directly behind each panel to turn DC electricity from each solar panel into translatable AC?+0

String inverter (Si)

Is the string inverter properly installed and unobstructed atop the roof of your Utah home (if you have one)?+1

Battery Backup (B)

Are you using battery backup to maximize your return on solar investment given declined Utah net metering returns?+2

Is the charge controller (the bridge between the solar panels and the batteries of the system), efficiently transducing the electrical current?+1

This periodic table of solar panel elements clarifies the benefits of rooftop solar for homeowners in sustainable energy’s age of confusion.

An in-depth Explanation of the Solar Comparison Table

In a complex industry like residential rooftop solar, consumers need companies authoritative enough to make an entire periodic table of elements about the product they sell.

That’s exactly what Go Solar Group, a Utah and Reno-based solar company, has done with its periodic table of solar panel elements. Much like an actual periodic table of elements, each solar item has a charge and charge count, positive charges indicating the item’s presence is good for residential solar and negative charges indicating an item’s presence is a downfall.

Homeowners who are considering going solar should know this periodic table can function as a checklist of things worth discussing with their solar installer of choice, or as a tool to vet several different installers when trying to select the best one. Therefore, this periodic table of solar panel elements doubles as an effective checklist of items and questions to run by solar installers.

If the installation expert at the companies you’re vetting can answer questions about each of these items, you can trust they are working for a reputable company that will not just install the solar modules correctly and give you the best available deal, but also provide ample customer service after the installation.

This periodic table also helps homeowners examine parts of their residential solar system of which they’d likely be unaware otherwise. Contrary to popular belief, much more goes into making solar panels work effectively than the solar panels themselves. That’s why this table divides solar into three categories, helping homeowners understand the tripartite functions of residential rooftop solar: off-the-panel factors, on-the-panel factors, and system components that bridge these two elements.

The periodic table also clears up two major misconceptions that have baffled rooftop solar prospects for nearly a decade, bringing them closer to the real benefits of rooftop solar for their homes.

Many American solar companies have relied on solar cell imports from China, and many of these imported panels contain polycrystalline solar cells. Although these panels are slightly cheaper than their Mono-crystalline counterparts, they are far less efficient, and actually diminish the return on savings homeowners can save with solar. Opting in to polycrystalline solar panels will save homeowners money up-front, but it will diminish solar’s return on investmentover time, as the panels are less efficient. Choosing a solar vendor who either manufactures or imports Mono-crystalline panels will be key for homeowners moving forward.

The table also clarifies one of the most misunderstood aspects of rooftop solar: how it actually saves consumers money.

Energy independence has several paths, but each begins with net metering: the method by which utility companies pay rooftop solar users for the energy they don’t use and send back to the grid for others to use. Although net metering rate returns have changed, they are still close to the 1:1 credit, making solar one of the easiest, effort-free ways to save money.